Rite of Passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rite of Passage - Essay Example Ceremonies are very important during rites of passage as they help in the preparing an individual on how to adjust to different changes in their life. Besides the rites of passage being marked by the four stages of human life, it also takes the form of professional progress in life. This is indicated by graduation ceremonies that mark the end of educational progress in order to get into the job market. During the rites of passage, marriage is one of human life stages that mark a remarkable change in human life. This is because it involves making a choice of getting into a family commitment. Many societies across the globe celebrate marriage ceremonies. One of the societies that adore marriage is the Hinduism. This is depicted by the harmonious ceremonies they perform. Hindu marriage is understood as a rite of passage in which separation from the previous stage is marked by transition. The ceremony is accompanied by rituals in which integration into new roles of the social world is ma rked symbolically by a ring. Hindu marriage Hindus believe that life is sacred thus every step of their life from childhood to adulthood is marked by traditional ceremonies. Their ceremonies performed during the rites of passage are called the samskara. This marks ending point of one stage of life to the other. ... Samskara ceremony is mostly performed in the church where the couples and the people attending the ceremony surround the Homa fire. In the occasion, the couples are allowed to make a lifetime vows. In addition, they also make seven steps before God in order to be consecrated as a holy union (Das 5). Turner's model of the ritual process Turner was an anthropologist who noted that virtually every society in the world uses ceremonies to mark the transition in social status of people. The rites of passage are meant to validate chances in the individual status. This helps in the transformation of events that ranges from birth, adolescence, parenthood and finally death. He discovered that rites of passage from different societies across the world share similar characteristics. He considers a rite of passage as an activity symbolizing the crossing from old threshold of life into a new social world. Van Gennep, on the other hand, observed the rite of passage as a change in the social positio n which increases with an individual’s age. He identifies that every rite of passage is marked by separation, transition and reintegration (Das 5). Separation is the phase that is identified by symbolic behaviors of people in the society. It indicates how people detach themselves from their earlier fixed state of social structure or cultural diversity. Liminality, on the other hand, is characterized by the ambiguity of the ritual subject in the society. Individuals pass through a culture that has no attribute to the past and the future generation. In addition, reaggregation is the rite of passage that is consummated. In this phase,